Henry Fownes Luttrell (born Henry Fownes; 1722 or 1723 – 30 October 1780), of Dunster Castle, Somerset, was High Sheriff of Somerset from 1754 to 1755 and a Member of Parliament for the borough of Minehead from 1768 to 1774.

Fownes was the son of John Fownes of Nethway and Kittery Court, near Dartmouth, and led the life of a country squire. In 1747, he married Margaret Luttrell, the heiress of Dunster Castle and added his wife's name to his own to comply with her late father's will. In accordance with the era's laws concerning the property rights of married women, on his marriage he became the legal owner of his wife's property, including not only Dunster Castle, but also the lordships of the manors of Dunster, Heathfield, and Kilton amongst others. The newly named Fownes Luttrell altered the castle considerably, remodelling its interior and park and building the Conygar Tower, a folly in the grounds. Following the death of his wife in 1766 he remarried in 1771.

When Fownes Luttrell's candidate for the 1754 election was defeated, he realised that his estate bought him relatively little political power. Frustrated, he set about nursing his interest in the borough. Later, a compromise with a rival landowner placed one of the borough's two parliamentary seats in his pocket. He stood for election in 1768 and was returned with the support of the Government. He was returned again in 1774 alongside his eldest son, John; the Prime Minister was disgruntled that he had not returned his own favoured candidate and Fownes Luttrell resigned on the condition that the Government's candidate would not interfere in the future without his permission. Thenceforth until abolition by the Reform Act 1832 the borough's parliamentary seats were effectively controlled by his family.

Fownes Luttrell was an inactive politician and is not known to have spoken or voted in Parliament during the six years he was a member. Instead, he led the life of a country squire, hunting and managing his estates. Fownes Luttrell died in 1780, and his eldest son succeeded to his estates.

Origins Henry Fownes was born in 1722 or 1723, the eldest son of John Fownes (died 1733) of Kittery Court, Kingswear, Devon, a Member of Parliament for Dartmouth, by his wife Anne Maddock, a daughter of Samuel Maddock of Tamerton Foliot.Namier (1964a)See also Matthews (1970). His grandfather was John Fownes (1661-1731) of Kittery Court in the parish of Kingswear and of Nethway in the parish of Brixham, both in Devon, a Member of Parliament for Dartmouth, Devon, in 1713–14.Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.373, Pedigree of "Fownes of Plymouth" The first of his ancestors to settle in Devon was Thomas Fones (died 1638) of Plymouth in Devon, a merchant who served as Mayor of Plymouth in 1619,Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.372 whose ancestors were from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire and in 1539 had acquired Dodford Priory shortly after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.Habington, Thomas, Survey of Worcestershire, 1600

Marriages and issue

He married twice: Firstly on 16 February 1747, to his second cousin Margaret Luttrell (7 February 1726 – 1766), the daughter and heiress of Alexander Luttrell (1705–1737), MP, whose family had owned Dunster Castle since 1376, by his wife Margaret Trevelyan, daughter of Sir John Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet of Nettlecombe, Somerset.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, p. 226 states that they were second cousins. According to Sir Henry Maxwell Lyte, the historian of Dunster Castle, "the union proved exceptionally happy and her letters to her husband ... are conceived in the spirit of the sincerest affection." Following his marriage and inheritance not only was he required under the bequest to add to his surname but was also compelled to spend six months of each year at Dunster Castle. By his wife he had six sons and four daughters.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, p. 259 Of these, several died as infants: Alexander (born and died in 1749), Anne (born and died 1750),Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, p. 261 Anne (born and died 1751), and Anne (born and died 1758). The surviving issue were as follows: Lieutenant-Colonel John Fownes Luttrell (1752–1816). He was a member of parliament for Minehead from 1774 to 1806 and again from 1807 to 1816.See also R.G. Thorne, "Fownes Luttrell, John I (1752–1816), of Dunster Castle, Som.", The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790–1820, 1986, ed. R. Thorne Rev. Alexander Luttrell (baptised 1754; died 1816). He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and took holy orders; in 1807, he married Lucy Gatchell.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. ii, pp. 533–534 Francis Fownes Luttrell (1756–1823). He sat as a member of parliament for Minehead from 1780 to 1783 and went on to be Chair of the Board of Customs from 1813 to 1819.see also Sir L. Namier, "Fownes Luttrell, Francis (1756–1823)", The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754–1790, 1964, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Fownes Luttrell (1763–1811). He was an army officer and sat as a member of parliament for Minehead from 1795 to 1796.see also R.G. Thorne, "Fownes Luttrell, Thomas (1763–1811), of Dunster Castle, Som.", The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790–1820, 1986, ed. R. Thorne Lieutenant Henry Fownes Luttrell (1753–77), an officer in the Royal Horse Guards, died unmarriedMaxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, pp. 260 Margaret Fownes Luttrell (1747–92) who in 1769 married John Henry Southcote of Buckland Toutsaints, Devon, and sat for a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds that year. Secondly in 1771, five years after the death of his first wife, he married Frances Bradley (d.1803), a daughter of Samuel Bradley of Dunster.

Career He matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford in 1741, but did not take a degree.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, p. 227

Country squire Margaret Luttrell's father died in 1737, when she was eleven, and she inherited the position.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, p. 225 Her father left debts due to his lifestyle and also provisions in his parents' wills that forced him to support his niece, Anne Luttrell, a daughter of Francis, his brother. This situation caused the family seat at Dunster Castle to be closed and valued, while much of the family silver now in her possession was sold off, in some cases to relatives. Margaret Luttrell went to live with her mother's new husband, Edward Dyke of Tetton, a wealthy landowner.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, p. 226 While there, she married Fownes, who was then a resident of Nethway, Devon.Maxwell Lyte (1909), pp. 225–226

To improve his wife's estate, Fownes Luttrell obtained a sanction from the Court of Chancery to sell the manors of Heathfield and Kilton but found no buyers;Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, p. 228 he subsequently attempted to sell the manor of Minehead, and also offered at least one of the Parliamentary seats for the Borough of Minehead for £30,000, but there were no serious bidders, largely due to the high prices and the fact that Fownes Luttrell had in fact not inherited much control over the seats he was putting up for sale.Namier (1964b) However, frugal spending helped to recover the estate and Fownes Luttrell invested in 1760 in the manor of Foremarsh, near Dunster, which he purchased from John Poyntz. He went on to buy the manor of Staunton Fry in 1777 and a number of tenements in Dunster. In leisure, he particularly enjoyed hunting, keeping hounds and horses, and cockfighting.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, pp. 228–229

Dunster Castle

Beginning in 1747, Fownes Luttrell made numerous and significant alterations to Dunster Castle, redecorating and redesigning it in the Rococo style.Garnett (2003), p.42Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. ii, p. 376 He renovated the Great Parlour, converted a bedroom over it into a Drawing Room in 1758, created a Breakfast Room over the Hall in 1772, remodelled the southern part of the castle, and altered the Great Staircase in 1773.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. ii, pp. 376–378 His changes to the décor of the castle are also noteworthy, particularly for his use of newly-fashionable wallpaper.

Further alterations were made by Fownes Luttrell to the castle grounds. He created the park there and constructed Conygar Tower.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. ii, p. 378 The latter was commissioned in 1775 and was designed as a decorative folly to improve the views from the castle;"Conygar Tower ", everythingexmoor.org.uk (retrieved 12 September 2014); archived at the Internet Archive. he also built a gatehouse and a statue of Neptune in Conygar wood at a similar time, while commissioning the reconstruction of Dunster Water Mill and the adjacent bridge, which were rebuilt from 1779 to 1780."Conygar Wood and Conygar Tower ", dunsterestate.co.uk (retrieved 12 September 2014); archived at the Internet Archive."Dunster's Corn Mills", Victoria County History. University of London. [Microsoft Word Document format.]"Dunster Working Water Mill ", everythingexmoor.org.uk (retrieved 12 September 2014); archived at the Internet Archive. In 1764, the Lower Ward of the Castle was reduced to one level, while several adjoining walls were removed and the road passing through the gateway was covered over.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. ii, pp. 378–379 Additionally, his park was built south of the castle, and required the eviction of a number of tenant farmers.Garnett (2003), pp. 27 and 29

Member of Parliament Being Lord of the Manor of Minehead theoretically gave Fownes Luttrell a "Natural Interest" in elections to Parliament for the borough—i.e. the power to influence the votes of its householders. However, the Luttrells had let it slip out of their control and Fownes Luttrell was being warned by his estate's agent, John St. Albyn, in 1747 that "you do not appear sure of more than one quarter of the vote, and it may happen too that of even one quarter of them some will fail you".Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, p. 232 At the British General Election of 1754, Fownes Luttrell was serving as High Sheriff of Somerset, which barred him from standing as a candidate to be a member of parliament; however Henry Shiffner, a merchant from London, approached him and offered himself as a candidate for the borough in his place.Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, p. 238

As St. Albyn had warned, Shiffner was not returned as a Member; instead, Lord Egremont, a local landowner, offered considerable financial support to his own candidate, Daniel Boone, while one of the incumbent MPs, Charles Whitworth, offered to sell parts of his estate to loyal supporters. An intervention from the Duke of Newcastle, at Egremont's request, led to Boone and Whitworth forming an alliance against Fownes Luttrell. Shiffner petitioned Parliament and was supported by an angered Fownes Luttrell,Maxwell Lyte (1909), vol. i, p. 239 but Egremont and Fownes Luttrell eventually agreed a truce and by 1757 had agreed to return a member each and oppose any third candidates. Reluctant to stand himself, Fownes Luttrell supported Shiffner again. The pair would spend seven years dealing with the estate and consolidating his interest there; this, coupled with his arrangement with Egremont, meant that Shiffner was duly returned in 1761, alongside the first Earl of Thomond, brother of Egremont, beating an outsider, the Earl of Clanbrassill. During this Parliament, Fownes Luttrell entertained voters at Dunster Castle and in the village, where he laid on expensive feasts.Maxwell Lyte (1909), pp. 242 and 244